Stop off at Top Dog, watch the crowd gather, and have a beer before the game.

Life is good.

Go Bears!

]]>By: Gobears49http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160818
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:46:19 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160818A player with good height does have an advantage in being able to play in the NBA. Francisco Elson (7 foot), Sean Marks (about 6’10”, and Jamal Sampson (6’11”) all shared three main characteristics — they were just good players at Cal, never sensational at all, were tall, and had decent NBA careers (especially Elson and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Marks). Soloman was easily a better scorer than Elson but Elson could play some with his back to the basket and I seem to recall he was a fairly phenomenal shot blocker. Marks was probably the best scorer of the three and was a pretty tough guy.

Soloman could take heart in the NBA careers of these three guys (though not really Sampson), but then there’s Devon Hardin, who was 6’11”, very athletic, who seemed like he had loads of potential, but was bust in the NBA.

Again, I think we need to view how the coaches around the league judge Soloman before we can make any solid judgements about his NBA prospects. I think he has many good tools but he needs more weapons on offense to be very effective at the next level. And, I must admit, I don’t focus on defense much except for blocked shots. Maybe Soloman is a very good defender.

I think I’m done on this topic for awhile.

]]>By: rollonubearshttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160816
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:15:28 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160816GoBears, I’m with you. I think he needs a lot of work, but the Jamal thing was ridiculous. He was terrible, in my opinion, and yet still got picked up. It’s crazy how the process works sometimes. Anyhow, I’m just pointing out that if Jamal Sampson could make it, Solomon can too, even if he doesn’t see much action at that level. I’ve been floored with how he’s turned his game around this year. Proud of what he’s done. He’s become a man out there, in just a few months, and he’s a HUGE asset to this team.
]]>By: Gobears49http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160815
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:08:46 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160815Rollonubears,

Could be wrong about Soloman. Just my opinion. A good tell about Soloman’s NBA potential will be how he rates in the Pac-12 after the end of the year. I think he needs to at least make the second team to show that potential.

Don’t remember Jamal Sampson that much, as he only played one year at Cal, though I remember being really excited about him when he first arrived here. He actually played a few years in the NBA. See the links below.

]]>By: rollonubearshttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160809
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:01:07 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160809If we lose the next two, we really don’t deserve a tourney slot. If we split and win one pac12 game, I think we do. I have a pretty good feeling we’ll end up somewhere in the 7-10 range, far away from home. It would be so nice, for freaking ONCE, to play in the bay area in the tournament.
]]>By: 1brsfanhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160808
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:49:03 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160808Lunardi moved us to the Green teams (80%) chance of making the tourney. Makes sense since the trap/bad loss games are behind us and our next games can only help our numbers with wins but not really impact them with a bad loss. I still think we have a shot at winning the conference. Go Bears!
]]>By: rollonubearshttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160806
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:05:55 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160806He’s certainly better than jamal sampson.
]]>By: Gobears49http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160794
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:50:20 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160794Disagree, unless he really learns new moves well. He does have a good turnaround jumper, but I don’t think he moves well with the ball at all, and he would have to be able to do that, as an NBA forward (he’s too small to be an NBA center). He still likes to take his occasional “three,” like he did last night. After that, every time he touched the ball near the 3-point line, I kept yelling “No,” as I thought he was going to try another.

Despite my comments, I think Soloman is a good college player and is an important player for Cal. He certainly is a very good rebounder.

]]>By: BlakeStreetBearhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/02/28/basketball-utah-game-thread-2/comment-page-1/#comment-160792
Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:40:40 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=35645#comment-160792I think Solomon can make it to the NBA too, if he really focuses on defense and rebounding next season.
]]>